DPS bringing big guns to the Rio Grande

December marked the commissioning of the first in a new series of DPS patrol vessels. It is named in honor of fallen Trooper Jerry Don Davis. Davis was shot and killed in the line of duty in Lubbock County in 1980. The patrol vessels will be named for DPS officers killed in the line of duty in each of the state's six regions. The J.D. Davis is now stationed in the Valley and will patrol the Rio Grande River. COURTESY PHOTO

Photo By Courtesy Photo

This craft is one of the machine-gun-equipped boats that will be patrolling the Rio Grande and Intracoastal Waterway. It is named in honor of fallen Trooper Jerry Don Davis, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in Lubbock County in 1980.

Photo By Alberto Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

This craft is one of the machine-gun-equipped boats that will be patrolling the Rio Grande and Intracoastal Waterway: the David Rucker, named after DPS trooper Rucker, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1981.

Photo By Alberto Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

This craft is one of the machine-gun-equipped boats that will be patrolling the Rio Grande and Intracoastal Waterway: the David Rucker, named after DPS trooper Rucker, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1981. Members of Rucker's family join state troopers onboard the patrol boat.

Photo By Alberto Martinez/Austin American-Statesman

This craft is one of the machine-gun-equipped boats that will be patrolling the Rio Grande and Intracoastal Waterway: the David Rucker, named after DPS trooper Rucker, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1981. Members of Rucker's family join state troopers onboard the patrol boat.

McALLEN — If there's any doubt Texas police see a direct threat in Mexican drug cartels warring just across the Rio Grande, consider the Department of Public Safety's latest introduction to a growing border arsenal: the second of what will be a fleet of six custom-made, machine gun-toting patrol boats.

“The Mexican cartels have enlisted former Mexican military commandos...They're also using not only terrorist tactics, they're using military style weaponry,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said Thursday. “If we're going to put troopers on the water to try to prevent them from moving tons of quantities of drugs into Texas, we have an obligation to protect our troopers.”

The 40-officer unit will be charged with stopping and deterring “those who break state laws and endanger our citizens along the Rio Grande River and the Intracoastal Waterway,” according to a DPS news release.

Drug smugglers have become increasingly brazen, and “splash downs,” where they simply swim back to Mexico after spotting law enforcement, have become common. In 2011, DPS aviation pilots supported Border Patrol with arrests or seizures 994 times, McCraw said.

Each of the vessels will be equipped with multiple automatic weapons and night vision capability. All six will be commissioned by the summer, three to patrol the river, the other three the Intracoastal Waterway between South Padre Island and the mainland.

The first vessel — the J.D. Davis — was commissioned in December. The second — the David Rucker — was unveiled in Austin on Thursday. All are being named for a trooper who died in the line of duty.

Most law enforcement and border officials welcomed the initiative, though some border residents and human rights groups questioned the need for such heavily-armed boats. McCraw defended their use.

“Four years ago it's something we wouldn't have considered,” McCraw said. “But the cartels have changed the game. As long as they sit on the Mexican side of the border and fire rounds...then we've got an obligation to not just roll over.”

As for the guns presenting a danger to Texans living on the border, McCraw said, “They don't have to worry about stray gunfire from us.”

Several border leaders praised the initiative.

“We're taking too much abuse,” Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. “The bad guys know it's a well-known fact that once they hit the water, we cannot pursue, for a lot of good reasons. So already being on the water...I think it's a great idea.”

There have been several incidents in recent years of smugglers attacking law enforcement from the Mexican riverbank, sometimes with rocks, other times with gunfire.

McCraw last June defended answering a few shots aimed at a multi-agency “Ranger Reconnaissance” mission with a 300-round barrage, saying, “You shoot a police officer, you're going to be shot back at.”

“I'm a big supporter of trying to get more assets on the rivers,” Cuellar said. In 2009, Cuellar asked the Coast Guard, which doesn't have a permanent presence on the Rio Grande, to consider stepping up patrols there. In November of last year, a Coast Guard representative sent a letter summarizing its analysis of the security situation along the border.

The Coast Guard does back up other agencies on border security and search and rescue missions along the Rio Grande, according to the letter, but the agency determined it didn't need to increase patrols.

“The mix of (federal), state and local assets provide a balanced and effective counter to the narcotics and violence threat in the area,” the letter read.

“I can't imagine how that can be anything but dangerous. It's essentially treating this river running up against communities and near people's houses as a war zone,” he said. “I've not heard any news reports or anything that would justify that.”